Dance to the Beat of my Heart
by GoodBadAndEverythinInBetween
Summary: He was Julien's best friend. She was his kid sister. Things could never work out. But maybe, just maybe, they could find that they're really dancing to the beat of their hearts.Twoshot.
1. Dancing to the Beat of my Heart

He was Julian's best friend. She was his kid sister. Nothing about her would make him feel the way she felt about him, nothing could make him love her.

At least, that's what she thought he thought about her as she spun in front of the mirrored wall in the studio, pulsing to an imaginary beat. She took two flying leaps, spinning over herself, looping gracefully through the air, then landed and launched into an improvised routine.

Natalie froze as she whirled past his motionless figure. His signature black hat was pulled down low over his face, throwing his features into shadow. He was leaning against the wall, slouched, watching her with evident amusement. His gaze was derisive and a small smile played around the corners of his lips. He seemed to be daydreaming, listening to his iPod with an unreadable expression, but she could tell from the telltale sharpness of his eyes that he'd been watching her every move.

"Hey."

She gave him a shy little wave in the mirror, and then shut the door hurriedly, collapsing behind it. She could hear chuckling from behind the closed door, and gritted her teeth.

"Kid! You coming? We need to practice for the world jam!" Julien's voice floated down the hall, followed by approaching footsteps.

"You go ahead first. I've got my part covered." He sounded bored.

"Natalie?"

"No, uh, I'll just, you know…stick with my routine, thanks."

"Whatever, man."

Natalie paused in front of the mirror, cocking her head to one side slowly, listening for any sounds that might indicate movement.

It sounded like Julien had left. There was silence in the hallway now. Natalie tiptoed over to the door, and wrenched it open in one swift movement. The hallway was deserted. Sighing in relief, she turned the corner that led to her bedroom, and tripped over something.

"Oh, shoot!" She stumbled and cussed quietly, looking around wildly for whatever she'd crashed into, but to no avail, because her head was still spinning from the fall.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Two strong hands lifted her off the ground, propping her up against a nearby wall. As her head cleared, Natalie found herself staring directly into Kid Darkness' eyes. They were burning with an unknown emotion, and the intensity left her breathless.

"I'm…uh, totally fine. Yeah. Thanks for, um…" She gestured at his hands around her waist.

Kid Darkness grinned.

"Anytime."

He turned and took a few hesitant steps away, his eyes still locked on hers. Then he gave the most fleeting of smiles and left.

"Hey, ten bucks on the skinny kid!"

"No way, man…!"

"Who, me?"

Natalie peered through the gathering crowds, searching for a familiar face, anyone from the House of Samurai.

A spinning blur of dark clothes caught her attention. Kid Darkness was in the centre of the circle, smirking at a younger boy who stood staring insolently at him.

"Let's see what 'cha got!" screamed someone from the crowd.

He started to move, jerking his arms awkwardly up at first, then moving into more fluid moves, twisting and cricketing, then jumping onto the table to continue his routine. Natalie saw the anger flash in Kid Darkness' eyes as the gathering wavered in their support for him.

"Not bad, skinny!"

A dark blur plowed into the table with the force and speed of a hurricane, and the smaller boy was knocked off. The blur slowed, to reveal Kid Darkness. He gave a cocky smile, shifting quickly through a few moves, before flipping off the table easily. The crowd roared their approval.

The skinny boy was back on his feet, but Natalie could hardly see anymore. The crowd surged around the park, screaming and dancing along with him. Through the mass of people, she saw Kid Darkness slip away, his expression hostile and his eyes fierce.

She followed him for a short distance, matching his lithe stride easily.

"You did well back there."

Natalie squeezed herself in beside him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"You don't understand, Natalie. Dancing is my life. One lost battle – that's a lot to me."

His eyes flashed, and his mouth was set into a grim line.

"No, you listen." She moved in front of him, placing herself directly in his path so he couldn't move.

"I know all about how important this is to you. You can't change the crowd's opinion of how a kid won, by flashing fancy power moves and cheap stunts like jumping into a bunch of balloons or popping bubbles, but you can believe in yourself. You can do what you think is right. What you want."

Kid Darkness stayed silent, pondering the matter.

"Follow your heart." Natalie added, taking his hand in hers.

He took her face in his hands, pulling her closer gently towards himself.

"No, wait. What are you doing?" Natalie suddenly felt light-headed and slightly dizzy. This was the moment she'd been waiting for, and now it felt so right.

Kid Darkness laughed quietly, kissing her squarely on the lips.

"Following my heart."


	2. Loving boys from two worlds apart

_My body rocks a rhythm_

_You beat my drum hard_

_I might just kick it kick it_

_You wanna lick it lick it_

_I love to stick it stick it_

_From London to LA_

_Yeah, that's the ticket ticket_

_Come then, kiss it, kiss it_

Natalie danced and spun through the club, whirling past stunned boys, flicking her hair back. Her moves were fluid and endless. She loved the feeling of knowing that she was doing what she loved, and the admiring gazes following her only made it even better. In the pulsing lights, she caught a glimpse of black clothes and a cocky grin as Kid Darkness mingled with the crowd.

The crew had disappeared into the toilet to pull their next battle. With Kid Darkness out there, Natalie didn't even want to think about how embarrassed Moose would be, with a video of himself being owned by the best dancer in New York posted onto the web. But she figured that he deserved it.

They reappeared a few moments later, with Moose leading the way, obviously running from the Samurai. Natalie laughed quietly as he ducked into position behind the brown-haired leader of the Pirates, still worn out from the short chase.

In front of her, the crowd had suddenly parted, revealing a bunch of Samurai, their dark clothes vivid in the fluorescent lights. Kid Darkness appeared at the edge of the ring, took two running steps, then boosted himself off Julien and Twister, flipping three times before he landed on his feet again.

Moose watched in open-mouthed amazement as Kid Darkness sauntered towards him, but the leader got in the way.

Kid Darkness' eyes narrowed.

"The kid and I, we got some unfinished business to deal with."

The boy stepped forward and began to answer, but Julien cut in mockingly.

"Oh, come on. Be a good sport, Luke."

"Julien. What are you doing here? Get you and your boys off my turf." His voice shook with barely suppressed anger.

"Your turf?" Julien's tone held an edge of derision.

The two groups hovered, teetering on the brink of a battle. Then, suddenly, all hell broke loose as the crowd surged and the sounds of furious shouts filled the air. Natalie was so concentrated on Kid Darkness' figure that she didn't realize she was on the floor until two strong hands grabbed her.

"Hey, you okay?"

The words echoed around in her head, mocking her. Suddenly, the déjà vu of the situation was overwhelming.

"I'm fine, thanks."

They gazed at each other wordlessly for a moment, before introducing.

"Thank you." She grinned when Luke offered to let her stay at his place.

And that was how two hearts found each other and one other one was cast away, broken and bitter.

* * *

The crowd parted, and the Samurai entered through the opening, with Julien in the lead.

Natalie saw her brother grin at Luke, then Kid Darkness tipping his hat in a mock salute to her. The rest of the crew followed behind them, and as the thumping beat started up, she saw undisguised hate flash across Kid Darkness' face.

The Pirates started off slow, and it was nothing compared to the fancy, dazzling moves of the Samurai's routine. The Samurai few through the air, beating them at every turn.

Luke stepped up to the front with Moose and Vladd, rocking crazily to the beat. The Samurai retaliated with a few fancy moves, ending with a perfect freeze executed by Twister.

The twins started up their own style, earning whistles and cheers from the crowd, and the rest of the Pirates followed, morphing into a whole new style. Kid Darkness grinned, then came flying in from the corner of the stage, holding his hand stands and flipping straight into the centre of the circle. His eyes were alight with the promise of battle.

Natilie watched in despair as the Samurai gained the upper hand, but then, at the last minute, ran up onstage.

"We can take them."

Luke turned to look at her like she was crazy, but Natalie didn't care. She ripped off the jacket, then executed some lightning-fast moves, keeping her eyes on her brother. Julien didn't seem too happy about that. She felt Luke's strong arms brush past her skin, his legs whistling past her head, as they cartwheeled and somersaulted over each other. Finally, his strong arms flung her into the air, catching her in the nick of time, then bringing her up closer to himself.

Natalie could swear that Kid Darkness had looked ready to murder Luke.

She ignored the taunts and jeers from the Samurai, continuing confidently with her own routine. At the last soaring beat, Natalie jumped, arching back to touch her own feet. Then, she dropped in front of Julien, smiling triumphantly.

Luke's hat was suddenly whipped off his head, held by a smirking Kid Darkness. He gave Luke a derisive bow, then tossed the hat into the air. He dropped and cricketed twice, before launching into a perfectly smooth jackhammer, stretching one arm out to catch the falling hat. A few more spins and he was on his feet, holding the hat.

"The Samurai are wipin' up the floor with them!" Declared the announcer.

Kid Darkness eyes flashed with contempt, then he took the cap and mimed wiping up with it. Still smirking, he tossed the hat back to Luke, so it hit him on the face. The audience laughed and hooted.

The battle raged on, and everything became a blur. Time ceased to exist as bright lights and harlequin colours floated around Natalie.

Later, when she heard that the battle had been won, Natalie disappeared into the crowd, allowing it to swallow her up. Because, at this moment, she couldn't decide how she felt, torn apart by her love for the two bitter enemies.


End file.
